Annual Gerrit Smith birthday party March 5

Published 12:00 am, Friday, February 25, 2011

Photo Courtesy GERRIT SMITH ESTATE
Dr. Norman K. Dann, author and biographer of Gerrit Smith, presents Smith for induction to the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum. Dann will present the annual birthday lecture for Smith's birthday celebration. less

Photo Courtesy GERRIT SMITH ESTATE
Dr. Norman K. Dann, author and biographer of Gerrit Smith, presents Smith for induction to the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum. Dann will present the annual ... more

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Photo Courtesy GERRIT SMITH ESTATE
Sonya Lydford and her son adopted from Liberia. Lydford will share information on current-day Liberia Saturday, March 5 at 3 p.m. during Gerrit Smith's annual birthday party. Liberia was created in 1817 by the American Colonization Society, an organization which Gerrit Smith supported. less

PETERBORO -- Stewards for the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark begin the 2011 program season with the annual lecture and party for Gerrit Smith at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at the Smithfield Community Center, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road. Norman K. Dann Ph.D., professor emeritus Morrisville State College, will present Gerrit Smith's Beginnings as an Abolitionist and describe abolition stages through which Smith developed into a radical abolitionist. Sharing his decade of research and writings on Smith, Dann will explain the efforts of the American Colonization Society (ACS) which was founded in 1817 to return freed blacks to Liberia, a small country on the west coast of Africa. Smith contributed to the ACS in 1817, but by 1834 he no longer supported the ACS.

Dann is a member of the Peterboro Civil War Weekend Committee, a steward for the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark (GSENHL), and a member of the Cabinet of Freedom for the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF). Dann has two publications on Peterboro history, with two more in process. When We Get to Heaven: Runaway Slaves on the Road to Peterboro (2008) and Practical Dreamer: Gerrit Smith and the Crusade for Social Reform (2009) are published by Log Cabin Books and will be available at the program.

Directly following Dann's presentation, Sonya Lydford will share the history and culture of Liberia through her own personal experience. Lydford, a steward for the GSENHL and a volunteer for Peterboro Civil War Weekend, and her husband Robert have adopted four children from Liberia, and are awaiting three more to add to their family of thirteen. Lydford and her family will share sights, sounds, and tastes of current day Liberia.

The program will end with a birthday cake commemorating the birth of Gerrit Smith March 6, 1797. The public is encouraged to attend. Admission is $2. Free for Stewards and Students.